The Town of Battleford took steps to move ahead in revitalizing the community’s downtown area.
Monday evening, Town Council approved a proposal for an incentive program to attract new businesses and encourage current businesses to renovate their buildings and operations. This covers businesses on 22 Street from Central Avenue to Highway 4. Mayor Ames Leslie said it’s important for the Town to increase their drive in improving the business prospects of the communtiy.
“Council has never taken outward position to attract businesses to the downtown, it’s been a sit back and hope stance, so this is a nice step, whether it’s immediately successful or not,” Leslie said.
“I think it shows that the Town and Council of Battleford are serious about trying to improve the downtown and attract businesses to our downtown. Sometimes you have to offer these kinds of incentives.”
Downtown Battleford. (Josh Ryan/battlefordsNOW)Other Saskatchewan communities, including the City of North Battleford, have enacted similar programs.
“We’ve seen it be successful in other municipalities, both cities and large towns, where this type of approach was used to revitalize the downtown,” Leslie said.
Through this program, businesses with a permit value of $50,000-$99,999 would get a two-year municipal tax abatement. As the amount increases, the number of years does as well. $100,000-$199,999 would get four years, $200,000-499,999 would get six years and $500,000 plus would get eight years.
This differs from the original proposal, which had longer terms and more focused dollar amounts. Council members had a short debate before amending the proposal to new totals, as well as clarifying what was considered the downtown area. Several councillors said this was important, so that there would be no confusion for businesses, as to whether they could qualify or not.
Leslie said this serves residents in a more direct way as well. For those who have mobility issues or wish to reduce the amount of time it takes to get to various stops in their weekly shopping routine, having more business downtown and less risk of businesses closing is an immediate benefit.
“Ultimately, you want to do everything you can to make sure your dollars to stay in your community,” Leslie said. “This aims to do that.”
Potential funding
Council took another step in downtown revitalization Monday evening. The Town gave adminstration the greenlight to apply for the Canada Community Revitalization Fund (CCRF), a two-year $500 million national infrastructure program designed revitalize communities across Canada. This would cover fixes on everything from adding and improving green spaces to repairing infrastructure like sidewalks.
Projects funded by the CCRF would receive enough funding to cover 75 per cent of the total cost. The total Downtown Revitalization Project in Battleford is approximated to be $650,000, so the grant would cover roughly $487,500.00, leaving $162,500.00 plus GST and PST for the Town to cover.
During Monday’s council meeting, CAO Ash Alam said this funding would be substantial in tackling the improvement of the downtown area, while also providing local jobs. Council was unanimous in passing the motion.
Leslie said the grant would especially help in regards to the infrastructure side, such as sidewalks.
“It’s good timing, as it wasn’t necessarily top of the list for next year’s budgeting,” he said. “But if we can get this grant and have five years, it gives council time to plan properly and utilize the funds to the best of our abilities.”
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